Welcome to Flashpoint Facts, the feature where we get you all caught up on DC’s Event Flashpoint… In a Flash! This week saw the release of four new Flashpoint mini-series, so let’s get right to it:

KID FLASH LOST #1

First off, though we try not to bring review into this feature so much – more recap than anything – this is easily the best Flashpoint tie-in so far. Sterling Gates does a bang-up job of, without spoiling too much, essentially delivering what could have been called The Flash #13 without missing a step.

Now, to spoil things: Kid Flash is, like in The Flash #12, fighting with his granddad Barry Allen. Except this time, Barry is super super mean, instead of just an a-hole because he was created in the Silver Age. Turns out, he’s not Barry at all, he’s a Matrix-y construct (don’t worry, there’s plenty of jokes calling this out) created to keep Kid Flash in a state of temporal flux, essentially keeping him hooked into the timeline even though – with the changes wrought by the Reverse Flash – he shouldn’t exist anymore.

I actually won’t spoil much more, because the twists and guest appearances, as well as a villain you would never expect to essentially be a hero, are large parts of the joy of this comic. Suffice to say for our purposes, the future of the DC Universe is in even more dire straits than the present of Flashpoint. Once again, think The Matrix, and you have the right idea – and probably know who’s behind it. Plus, Kid Flash is getting Back-to-The-Futured, big time, with only two more issues to set things right.

Last note: seems like Marvel isn’t the only company who’s switching the gender on their motorcycled heroes.

REVERSE FLASH #1

There’s not a lot of new info in this book, unfortunately. I was naively hoping we might get the back-story on Reverse Flash’s evile plan, but it looks like that’ll be saved for the actual main series (not a huge surprise). Instead, for those of you who haven’t been following the past few decades of Flash continuity with an almost religious like fervor (me neither, and that’s not a shrine in my closet), you get a good primer on who Eobard Thawne is, what his deal with Barry Allen is, and just how much damage he’s caused to the timeline so far.

Also, can we go back to calling him Professor Zoom? Reverse Flash just makes me think he runs backwards.

THE OUTSIDER #1

1) This is also a very good tie-in, with James Robinson working in his wheelhouse writing an effete, all powerful anti-hero (see: The Shade).

2) The plot concerns a new villain, The Outsider, who destroys an entire town in India when he’s born, causing a war between most of the countries in the area. Years later, he controls all of India, when suddenly he’s attacked by outside forces.

3) This is where my continuity starts to headache.

So bear with me here, and I need a little help from the readers on this one: The Outsider, when he is born in an Indian slum, causes an explosion so huge it wipes out every living thing in the town, as well as all of the structures. And this happened years in the past, so in the “present,” he’s in control of India. And that’s all fine and good, except… At some point something changed enough so that this baby destroyed a town, and event that never happened in the main DCU.

This is actually my problem with Abin Sur’s survival as well, but we’ll get to that at some other point. Basically, Reverse Flash changed things in the DCU so much that a birth in a remote slum in India that would never have happened occurred? Really? I get Butterfly Effect and all – it was a great movie – but it strains credulity a little bit.

So I turn to you, the readers: the only explanation I have is that there was an issue of JLA or something in the 70s where this kid was born, and the JLA stopped a global conflict from the aftermath. That kid then grew up happy and powered, except in the Flashpoint reality, there was no JLA to make sure he was protected. That’s pretty much the only explanation I have that makes any sense; but if The Outsider is, in fact, a 100% new character… Someone explain this to me. Thank you for doing my job.

LOIS LANE AND THE RESISTANCE #1

Lois Lane is in Europe when Aquaman’s Tidal Wave of Vengeance trashes everything, but only she, a super cool Priest with sweet shades, and some guy with a baby are smart enough to go for the highest point in town. She’s “rescued” by the Amazons, and sent to a training camp to become a warrior. Meanwhile, Lois becomes a secret operative for a real American hero, Cyborg, providing info on the Amazonian’s methods. And then she makes a break for it. That’s pretty much it!

This is another fill-in-the-gaps series, showing how Lois Lane came to lead the Resistance in the UK… And that’s pretty much it. We learn that Cyborg, like Donatello before him, is good with machines. And also the final fate of Jimmy Olsen (maybe). But beyond that, no new info… Yet.

Oh, and I was able to get away with the “Lois Flashes Some Skin” headline because, after spending about ten seconds running away from a tidal wave – on foot – Lois’ dress rips, Jungle Girl style. So there’s that. You’re welcome.

And that’s it for this week! Next week, DC will finally be releasing Flashpoint: The Kitchen Sink #1, so that should cover pretty much everything. See you then!